


Legacy

by Irelando



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Rebelcaptain Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-20 00:10:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10650969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irelando/pseuds/Irelando
Summary: The instant his foot touches the duracrete ground of the landing bay, he gets hit with a wave of déjà vu so strong it nearly knocks him off his feet. Young pilots in orange jumpsuits tear past, helmets tucked under their arms. Droids beep and whirr and clank. Thrusters rev all around them.“Looks like we made it just in time,” Jyn remarks.(for rebelcaptain week, day seven: future.)





	Legacy

**Author's Note:**

> this is a belated contribution to rebelcaptain week happening over on tumblr! I'm actually planning to do a drabble for each day; the rest will be posted during the make-up days next weekend, but I wanted to get this one out since it was done more or less on time. 
> 
> not part of the Kindling-verse, at least right now.

The ship groans as it settles to the ground. Cassian checks the systems, leans back in his seat, and spends a moment gazing out at the hustle and bustle outside the viewport. It looks a lot like Yavin, this place, or at least like his increasingly fuzzy memories of the jungle moon.

“Coming?” Jyn asks from behind him.

He pushes himself up out of the seat. “Of course.”

The instant his foot touches the duracrete ground of the landing bay, he gets hit with a wave of déjà vu so strong it nearly knocks him off his feet. Young pilots in orange jumpsuits tear past, helmets tucked under their arms. Droids beep and whirr and clank. Thrusters rev all around them.

“Looks like we made it just in time,” Jyn remarks. Her hand slides into Cassian’s. He squeezes it gently. They used to be more circumspect, even when their relationship was common knowledge – call it a misplaced sense of propriety, maybe, at least on Cassian’s end. But since he resigned his commission long since, there’s no real point in keeping up the pretense.

“You okay?” she asks quietly, her shoulder bumping into his.

“Fine,” he says. “It just—it feels like we never left.”

She mulls that over, bright eyes scanning the activity around them. “At least it’s not freezing,” she says after a moment. “That’s an improvement.”

He snorts in agreement. No one misses Hoth. No one.

A familiar form detaches from the activity around the X-wings further down the bay and jogs towards them. Cassian recognizes him well before he reaches them, and has time to process the initial rush of combined surprise and relief before Poe skids to a stop.

“General Andor, Major Erso,” he says, a little out of breath. “I didn’t know—it’s good to see you!”

Cassian lets the title slide; he hasn’t managed to convince Poe not to use them the last three times they talked about it, and he doubts a fourth time would be any different. “It’s good to see you, too,” he says instead, and trades a glance with Jyn. “We’d heard—“

“About Jakku?” Poe finishes, and nods, sobering slightly. “I… got lucky.”

That’s just vague enough to prompt a slew of follow up questions in Cassian’s mind, but there’s no time for that now. Not considering what brought them here.

Poe, for his part, doesn’t let the silence last long. “I’ll tell you the whole story over a drink sometime,” he says, his cheerful tone just a little strained. “For now, you should head to the War Room.”

Makes sense that’s where she’d be. She always was one to be in the middle of things. Cassian nods, and reaches out to clap a hand on Poe’s shoulder. He doesn’t wish him luck – X-wing pilots have always had strange superstitions about that sort of thing. All he says is, “I’ll hold you to that drink.”

They leave Poe to his preparations and head across the landing bay. Jyn doesn’t say anything, but she stays close, and her hand is tense in his. Cassian thinks back to the reports he read on the way in; the Hosnian system ( _system_ , he still can’t wrap his mind around it) destroyed. A weapon that puts the past to shame, rising from the ashes of the Death Star like a phoenix, stronger than ever before.

She pulls a little ahead of him, and he can see the weight of her father’s legacy on her shoulders.

The War Room is packed; the same frenetic energy as outside pervades the room, crammed into a much smaller space. Still, somehow, Leia Organa looks up at their entrance. The lines on her face seem to etch a little deeper at the sight of them. Cassian knows that look; it’s the realization that even more lives are in her hands. He feels a brief pang of guilt for bringing her that burden, but not nearly enough to reconsider.

And all she says is, with a wry lift of an eyebrow, “You have impeccable timing.”

“You know us,” Jyn says, matching her tone, “Always in the nick of time.”

“What can we do to help, General?” Cassian asks.

Leia straightens up from her study of the war table, giving it a moment’s thought. “Well, first,” she says, “You can go see your daughter.”

Jyn’s shoulders stiffen. Leia smiles, just a little. “I’m a mother too, don’t forget,” she says. “I know what it feels like. Go. Maybe when you come back I’ll figure out a place for two fossils like you.”

It’s the right thing to say, the right mix of sympathy and irreverence to put Jyn (and Cassian himself, if he’s honest) at ease without feeling patronizing. Jyn makes a rude gesture, snorts something about  fossils under her breath, then turns to scan the room.

They spot Kay at the exact same time, looming in a corner of the room, and without exchanging a word they make a beeline for him. He spots them almost immediately.

“Your being here has upped the odds of your death by 86%,” he informs them without preamble, his strain obvious even in his deadpan mechanical voice.

“Love you, too,” Jyn says absently, and releases Cassian’s hand to move down the line of technicians.

Cassian lets her get a head start, looking up at his oldest friend. “We wouldn’t let you face this alone. Either of you.”

Kay’s chin tucks in, just a little, which usually means he’s not sure what to say. Cassian grins, trying for more confidence than he actually feels. “You used to complain about us beating the odds all the time, remember?”

“Yes,” Kay admits, “But this time the odds—“

“I don’t want to know,” Cassian says. He pats the droid’s shoulder to soften the words. “Let me hope, Kay.”

“I don’t see why you organics insist on clinging to such an illogical—“ he cuts himself off with a mechanical, clicking sigh. “Yes. Fine.”

Cassian gives him another pat and moves to follow Jyn. She’s at the end of the row, bent down, arguing with a familiar form in low voices while the rest of the techs pretend not to notice.

“Everything alright?” he asks as he reaches them.

“No, everything is _not_ alright,” Lyra says, spinning in her seat to face him. She has his eyes, but the way they spark when she’s angry is 100% Jyn. “I’d expect something this harebrained from Mom, but from you?”

Jyn meets his gaze above their daughter’s head.

“You were _safe_ ,” she continues, the flashing of her anger turning to something more like the glimmer of tears. “Why would you come here?”

“Because you’re here,” he says quietly. “What kind of parents would we be if we weren’t here with you?”

Lyra ducks her head, scrubbing at her eyes angrily. “You were safe,” she repeats.

Jyn raises an eyebrow. “If you honestly think we could have stayed tucked away when you were in danger – never mind the rest of the galaxy – then we must not’ve raised you right.”

Their daughter stares down at the ground for a moment. “I hate it when you’re right,” she says, a little petulantly.

Cassian smiles, resting a hand on her shoulder. She turns into it, wrapping her arms around him, and he does the same. Jyn reaches out to rub a hand over her back, and it hits Cassian all over again how much he loves both of them.

“It’ll be alright,” he murmurs into Lyra’s hair. “Rebellions are built on hope, remember?”

“Ugh,” she groans halfheartedly. “Don’t you get tired of saying that?”

“Never,” Jyn says, grinning. “He’s proud of that one.”

“Not as proud as I am of you,” he says.

It has the desired effect. Lyra groans again, louder this time, and pushes him gently away. “If you’re done embarrassing me, maybe I could get back to work?”

Jyn laughs. “Looks like Leia’s ready for us.”

Cassian lets her go, reluctantly. “Okay. If you need us, we’ll be here.”

Lyra’s already turning back to her station, but she pauses to look back at them. “I know,” she says, “You always are.”


End file.
